I frowned. Simon was making this up, obviously, but I couldn’t think of anything special about the second time…
“You have to understand,” he continued, twisting to look at Delilah for a second before turning back to me. “The first time I saw him, I was late for a lecture and the seat next to him was the nearest empty one to the door. So not only was I walking in late onmy first day of college, but I was going to have to sit next to the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.”
Delilah rolled her eyes, but Simon didn’t see it. He was looking at me.
My breath hitched as he took my hand, curling the tips of his fingers gently around mine.
“He was all in black, as usual, and he was lounging like he owned the place. Sitting by himself, away from everyone else. I figured he was too cool for everyone else in the room, and I was terrified, but I didn’t have a choice. He didn’t even look at me when I sat down.”
All of that was true—except that I was too cool for everyone else. I’d been sitting alone because I always sat alone. I hadn’t looked at Simon because even at the glance I’d gotten when he walked in—late, which in my mind gave him an air of confidence—heseemed too cool forme.
“I was scared of you,” I said. It seemed ridiculous now. No one in the world could be intimidated by Simon.
I’d grown up a lot since then, but I still remembered the way my stomach swooped when his knee bumped against mine as he sat down.
Delilah raised an eyebrow. “Of him?”
Simon laughed, eyes glinting in the light as he looked over my face. “You never told me that.”
I shrugged. “I was scared of everyone back then,” I said. “And then you made it worse?—”
“—by passing you a little note that saidHi. Complete with smiley face.”
My lips twitched at the memory. At the time, my heartrate had sped up so much I’d been afraid I might pass out. I’d had no idea how to respond to something like that.
To someone wanting to be my friend.
“Which I thought you were ignoring because it made me look like the biggest dork who’d ever breathed the same air as you,” Simon went on. “But then?—”
“I kept it,” I interrupted, a swell of fuzzy warmth rising under my ribs. “I-I… I still have it,” I admitted, looking down at the kitchen table instead of at Simon’s face.
I’d never told him that.
I’d never told him that the momentIfell in love withhimwas when he passed me that note.
“Really?” Simon asked. The wonder in his voice made me glance at him, and the smile on his face when I did made my lips twitch.
If I’d told anyone else that, I would have been terrified about what they’d think of me.
Not Simon, though. I trusted him. I could be… me, around him. I’d almost forgotten what a rare thing that was.
“Really,” I confirmed, smile widening as his did, as his eyes glittered up at me. He really was gorgeous.
Delilah made a gagging sound, tearing my attention away from Simon.
“Gross,” she said. “Get a room.”
Simon laughed. Then he raised my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles, making a dramaticmwahsound as he did so.
Heat rushed to my cheeks so fast the room spun a little, my knees weakening at the same time.
It was all for show. I knew that.
It was also maybe the most casually romantic thing anyone had ever done for me.
“We’ve got a room,” Simon said. “And if I play my cards right, I figure we might get to make use of it. Anyway. I fell in love with him when he sat down beside me at the next lecture and I saw he still had the note tucked into his notebook. I saw that note and I knew then I wanted him in my life forever. And here we are.”
“Here we are,” I said, voice faint even to my own ears.
